Geocaching Jewelry – Special Offer!

Hello, fellow Mad Cachers! As part of the changes we’re making to this site, one of our goals is to offer deals and opportunities to the Geocaching community. We’re happy to now offer you our very first deal…

Have you ever had trouble finding a unique gift for a fellow Geocacher in your life? Well luckily, we’re able to offer you a chance to find that special birthday, Christmas, or “just because” gift.

Ana, owner and designer at The Pretty Peacock, reached out to us to see if we might be interested in showing you her collection of jewelry. So we took a look, and we thought that her “Latitude and Longitude” collection is a great fit for the readers of this site.

This handmade jewelry features a latitude and longitude of your choosing stamped into it. Perhaps helping to remember a special location for you or a loved one, or even a favorite Geocache!

Ana has offered us free shipping for her entire website, at checkout – use the code MADCACHE11 to take advantage of her generous offer!

We hope you enjoy! In an effort to learn a little more about Ana (who is a fellow Geocacher) and get a good feel for her business we asked her several questions which she was kind enough to answer in detail. To learn more about Ana and her business read on.

Lat / Long Bracelet

Tell us a little about yourself…

~ I live in Seattle with my techie-geek extraordinairehusband and our two children, ages 8 and 5. I grew up in an East Indian household where academic excellence was demanded and the two ‘acceptable’ career choices was either doctor or engineer. Unfortunately (or fortunately!), I gravitated toward neither and after giving up on the idea of law school (after taking the LSAT’s and actually going through the process of applying), I focused on my career of being a contract negotiator. I took my first metalsmithing class after my children were born (my second was still an infant) and I was instantly in love. I ditched corporate life and focused on creating. Although being creative was always encouraged when I was growing up, there was no way I was going to become an art major for fear that my father might have heart failure right then and there. One of the few bright sides of being a grown up is that you call your own shots (well, most of them) and I’m pretty certain that Dad has gotten over the fact that I didn’t attend an Ivy League school and that I don’t have a bunch of acronyms after my name (I’m hoping, anyway).

I took my instant love for creating jewelry and grew a business out of it. It is definitely my passion and it fills my soul in a way that I am absolutely positive no contract negotiated ever could.

How did you come up with the name “The Pretty Peacock?”

Like most designers, I first named my company after myself: Anasuya Designs. ”Anasuya” is my given name, which means, “Without Hate” in Sanskrit (I grew up in Georgia and my first grade teacher suggested that my parents shorten my name since, “no Southern child would ever be able to pronounce it”). The logo for Anasuya Designs was a peacock. The first year I was in business under that name, I went to a few trade/gift shows and the only thing buyers could remember about my company’s name was that darn peacock! Before I ventured into an eCommerce site, I decided to change the company’s name to something more memorable. Since the peacock is the State bird of India, and it allows me pay homage to my culture (my very Americanized-because-I-was-born-in-Chicago culture) and since Pretty Peacock is super fun to say, The Pretty Peacock was the most rational of choices, of course!

How did you first hear about Geocaching, and how long have you been Geocaching?

Lat / Long Ring

My husband, Joel, is awesome. He always comes up with the most amazingly geeky-fun things to do. In 2002, he starts telling me about this “treasure hunt” thing he wanted to try where you “go from place to place using a GPS to find hidden treasures.” When you first hear something like that, it doesn’t really scream “GOOD TIME”. But, he’s persistent and we gave it a try and I have to say that I was like a giddy, crazy girl when we found that first cache. Luckily, he’s more of a grown up than I could ever dream to be and he let me keep the first treasure…and, well, every other treasure from that point on – until we had those darn kids and now I have to share!

What type of GPS are you using?

When we first started way back when, we would use print-out’s and a three ring binder and used our Garmin GPS 76, which is now discontinued. Now, there are so many awesome apps to use with smartphones! We use these apps: c:geo, GeoBeagle, and Geocaching from Groundspeak. Having everything you need right on your phone is, obviously, convenient and all three of these apps really do a great job in making it user-friendly and customizable.

Tell us about your jewelry…

I’m a big believer in using as much Earth-friendly material as possible in creating my jewelry, down to the packaging. I live in the Pacific Northwest – recycling is a way of life out here! Geocacher’s and anyone who appreciates geekery in any form love my Latitude and Longitude Collection. I have heard the sweetest stories of guys hiding engagement rings (or letters asking “will you marry me?”) in a special cache and using one of my pieces with the coordinates for the girl to track it down. We all have special places in our life that we hold close to our hearts. I think the ‘mysterious’ coordinates on a piece of jewelry makes it so that only you and yours knows the story behind it, which just makes it all that much more special.

Lat / Long Pendant

What gave you the idea to create this collection?

I had to come up with a gift for Joel for our 12th wedding anniversary. It’s hard to “wow” that kid! We have a backpack designated to Geocaching – it has all the necessary gear: writing instruments, flashlight, dozens and dozens of little treasures…you know, the usual. While I was brainstorming ideas for a gift, the backpack caught my eye from the corner of the room and then a whole flash of ideas happened and somehow my brain settled on using coordinates on a ring. But not just any coordinates – the coordinates of the dorm where we met in college. When I presented it to him, he whipped out his cell phone, looked up the coordinates and then shed a little tear over how awesome his wife is (okay, that last part didn’t really happen, but he was very touched by the whole sentiment). I thought that the idea of coordinates on a ring was spectacular, but I hesitated to have it as a Pretty Peacock piece because I thought it might be too geeky for anyone but a few of us to appreciate. I was so very wrong! Within the first month of offering a few different styles, the collection became my best seller. Not only that, but it was getting attention all over the place from our local paper and online magazines, dozens of blogs, the front page of Etsy – it was even featured in a fashion magazine in Brazil! Hooray for geekery!

What is your favorite piece of jewelry and why?

My main objective with The Pretty Peacock is to never create just a piece of jewelry that is going to match the outfit for the day – I’m not a ‘bauble’ maker. My goal is to create pieces that make you actually feel something – whatever emotion that may be – it just must evoke emotion. To pick a single favorite is very difficult! I love the Latitude/Longitude pieces I have created with the same coordinates that Joel has on his ring and I created stacking rings with the coordinates of where my children were born: http://www.theprettypeacock.com/collection/latitude-longitude/latitude-longitude-stack-ring.html. I also create pieces using actual handwriting – so, if you have a letter, wedding vows, or something scrawled on a sticky note from someone you love, I can take that just as it is in the writer’s own handwriting, and put that into silver. I created this bracelet: http://www.theprettypeacock.com/collection/tiny-touch/handwritten-love-tokens.html with Joel’s little note to me (we seriously are not this over the top sappy). I love and cherish that piece of jewelry because it is a real part of him (with no pain involved!).

We are very happy to be associated with Pretty Peacock!
Leave a comment below and let us know what you think!

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